Meat-boiler.



M. E'. HILL. MEAT BOILER. APPLICATION FILED DEG.1, 1910.

Patented May 21, 1912.

- ploy as the meat holding receptacle an open- UNITED STATES ljATEN OFFICE.

MARK E. HILL, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0 LE BLOND BURDETT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

MEAT-BOILER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1912.-

Application filed December 1, 1910 Serial No. 595,112.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARK E. HILL, of \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Meat-Boilers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to meat boilers in which meats of various kinds as beef, boned ham, etc, are cooked and compacted.

The salient characteristics of my meat boiler are its simplicity, the readiness with which it may be subjected to sanitary cleansing and its efiicient adaptability to the requirements in individual cases.

To secure ease of sanitary cleansing I emended tube'of any desired cross-section separable from all other parts of my boiler. In connection with the tube I employ, in the illustrated embodiment of my invention, a closure which preferably comprises also a base, a cross-head normally in fixed relation to. the closure, a follower fittingwithin the tube and constituting another closure therefor and means for operating the follower.

By far the most efficient operating means are manual, since both too little and too much pressure are undesirable and since the pressure can be exactly suited to the individual case only by such means. The screw is simple and effective, its action being gradual and sufficiently powerful, and I prefer its use.

The features of construction, the method of operation and themanifold advantages of my meat boiler will more fully appear hereinafter.

My invention therefore consists in the meat boiler, the preferred embodiment of which is described in the specification, and

illustrated in the drawings, and which is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings :Figure l is a vertical section. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view, parts of thetube being broken away to show the construction of the follower and closure.

Myapparatus is designed to secure the and to enable any shrinkage during cookingto be exactly taken upas well as to fill out any cavities left by, taking out the bones from. the meat, particularly in the case of bon'ed hams. In order to secure simplicity and the ready sanitary cleansing of the apparatus, I employ vsiry few parts and make these separable. The meat holding'receptacle takes the form of an open-ended tube 1 of desired cross-section which may be en t-irely separated from all the other parts of the apparatus. For this tube I provide a closure 2 which preferably constitutes also a base on which the boiler may stand upright. This closure is illustrated as a cover for the end of the tube and as having a flange 3 surrounding the tube. At the other end of the tube is located the cross head 4 which is illustrated as a plate constituting a cover for the end of the tube and having a flange 5 surrounding it. This is desirable in order that heat may be retained when the boiler is in use, but is not the necessary form of the cross head. Clamping rods 6 co-acting with lugs 7 correspondingly located on the closure 2 and on the cross head 4 serve to lock these parts removably together and to the tube. Obviously the clamping means may be Varied. As shown,

the rods have L shaped ends 8 at one end and are screw threaded at the other, being provided with wing nuts 9. Fitting and sliding witliin the tube is the follower 10 having thecentral bearing 11 for the screw 12 which works through the cross head which is correspondingly screw threaded and which is provided with the handle 13 by which the screw 'is turned manually to advance thefollower. The face of the follower may be of the shape desired. Where the boiler is used for hams, I prefer to make it slightlyconcave as at 14 on the side in contact with the meat. In order to prevent the follower from becoming skewed and to insure its proper movement the follower is made very thick at the edges so that a large bearing surface against the interior of the tube is provided. I have shown this follower as having a surrounding flange 15 and as being cupped or having a cavity 16, the purpose of which will shortly be mentioned. \Vhile the follower fits within the tube, it is not necessary, or indeed in most cases desirable, that the parts should fit so closely as to prevent some of the juices of the meat from being forced past the edge of the follower It is for the purpose of catching such juices, etc., that the follower is cupped. It is, moreover, noted also thatthe other closure of the tube need not be absolutely tight and indeed is preferably not absolutely tight but, while fitting the tube, permits any pickle or preservative in the meat to escape. As my boiler is placed in water for the purpose of boiling the meat any pickle which escapes merely passes intothe surrounding water. It is most convenient .to stand my boilers upright on the bottom of a vessel containing boiling water, the level of which is preferably below the top of the tube. The handles 13 not only enable the screw to be operated but are an easy means of handling and lifting the boiler.

The precise method of using my meatboiler will depend somewhat on the nature of the meat'being treated. In general the apparatus is used in the following way. The meat'is placed in the tube 1 and by means of the screw and follower-compressed.

I necessary. This boiler is effective in the cooking. It will be apparent thatin the case of hams the hook portion, which while palatable is ordinarily in such shape as to be wasted, since it usually forms, a mere projection, is forced by the follower into the body of the meatand is therefore saved. The juices of the meat are for the most part retained therein, but such juices, fats, etc, as are forced between the follower and the .interior of the tube pass into. the cupped side of the follower and are retained therein for subsequent use as desired. The cross head, when made as a cover, alds 1n retaining heat in the tube and for this reason I prefer to make it in this form.

' and closure bein' From the-drawings and above description, it will be apparent that all theparts may be separated from each other so that each may be readily cleansed. In the case of the tube particularly, it will be noted that there is no part permanently attached to it. Rapid and sanitary cleansing is demanded in apparatus of this kind, particularly at the 1. A meat cooker comprising in combination, a tube openat both ends, a closure therefor in close contact with one end of the tube to form a tight joint therewith, a crosshead, means for holding said cross-head normally in fixed relation to said closure, a follower between said cross-head and closure fitting the tube and sliding therein, and manually operable means for forcing the follower toward theclosure, said parts being separable from said open-ended tube whereby it may be readily subjected to sanitary cleansing.

2. A meat cooker comprising in combination, a tube open at both ends, a closure therefor constituting the bottom of the tube and being in close contact with the lower end thereof to form a ti ht joint therewith, a cross-head supported from the other end of the tube and normally in fixed relation to the closure, means for removably securing said parts together, a follower between said cross-head and closure fitting the tube and sliding therein, and a screw orking through said cross-head against the follower to force the follower toward the closure, said parts being separable from said open-ended tube whereby it may be readily subjected to sanitary cleansing.

3. A meat cooker comprising in combination, a tube open at both ends, a closure for one end of the tube, a "cross-head receiving its support from the tube means for holding said cross head normally in 'fixed relation to the closure, a follower fitting the tube and sliding therein between the cross-head and closure, and means acting against the cross-head and follower but separable from both for forcing the follower toward the closure, said follower being separable from said tube and said cross-head removable from the respective ends of t e tube. I

4.. A meat cookercomprising in combination, anupright tube open at both ends, a closure therefor constituting a supporting base forithe tube and forming with the lower end thereof a tight joint, a crossfor forcing said follower toward said clohead supported by the'upper end of the sure. 10 tulqe, means for removably securing said Signed by me at Washington,D. 0., this closure and cross-head to the tube, a fol- 1st day of December, 1910.

5 lower having a cupped top to catch and hold MARK E. HILL.

juices, etc., compressed out of the meat and Witnesses: fitting and sliding in the tube, said parts THoMAs E. ROBERTSON, being separable from each other, and means BENJ. R. JOHNSON. 

